Rotary engine with improved seal and timing mechanism providing linear acceleration between pistons during the power stroke

ABSTRACT

A rotary internal combustion engine having an improved mechanism which both transfers power from its pistons to a drive shaft and also provides for relative movement between pistons according to a predetermined function. An acceleration and deceleration function of the pistons is provided by this mechanism that is substantially linear between transitions between acceleration and deceleration segments. The result is that dynamic forces on the parts of the machine are reduced and an increased amount of power of an expanding fuel medium such as an air/gas mixture within the cylinder is transferred to the drive shaft. An arrangement is provided for sealing the space between a piston carrier extending into the cylinder and the piston cylinder itself by a flexible sealing ring provided in a slot in a manner to extend across this opening. No resilient means are provided to hold the seal against a seat but its flexibility is utilized by differential pressures within and without the cylinder to bring about the sealing action.

United States Patentv [1 1 Mclnto'sh 51 :Juae'24, 1975 [76] Inventor: Alex A. McIntosh, 1491 Benito Ave, Burlingame, Calif. 94010 [22] Filed: Mar. 22,1973

121] App]. N0.: 343,972

[52] US. Cl. 123/847; 418/36; 418/38 [51] Int. Cl. F02b 53/00 [58] Field of Search 123/847; 418/35, 36, 38

[56'] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,973,397 9/1934 Stromberg 123/847 2,126,795 8/1938 Mc1ntyre.. 123/811 2,271,068 1/1942 Gardner i 418/38 2,787,649 4/1957 Ballard et a1. 123/148 E 2,918,913 12/1959 Guiot 123/148 E X 3,034,486 5/1962 Buxton 418/36 X 3,l40 696 7/1964 Rhodes 123/845 3,203,405 8/1965 Sabet 123/847 3,229,674 1/1966 Muller 123/148 DS UX 3,244,156 4/1966 Curtrss t 418/36 X 3,381,669 5/1968 Tschudi 418/38 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 320,134 10/1929 United Kingdom 123/847 Primary Exam'l n'er-Wil1iam L. Freeh Assistant E.ramifier--Michael Koczo, Jr.

Attorney, Agent, or FirmLimbach, Limbach and Sutton [57] ABSTRACT A rotary internal combustion engine having an improved mechani'srh which both transfers power from its pistons to a drive shaft and also provides for relative movement between pistons according to a predetermined function. An acceleration and deceleration function of the pistons is provided by this mechanism that is substantially linear between transitions between accelerationand deceleration segments. The result is that dynamic forces on the parts of the machine are reduced and-an increased amount of power of an expanding fuel medium such as an air/gas mixture within the cylinder is transferred to the drive shaft. An arrangement is provided for sealing the space between a piston carrier extending into the cylinder and the piston cylinder itself by a flexible sealing ring provided in a slot in a manner to extend across this opening. No resilient means are provided to hold the seal against a seat but its flexibility is utilized by differential pressures within and without the cylinder to bring about the sealing action.

10 Claims, 15 Drawing'Figures PATENTEUJUN24 1915 3,890,939.

SHEET 2 nected to a second piston carrier. The pistoncarriers extend through the cylinder wall in a groove thatiextends completely around the total circumference of the cylinder at'its' inside surface; Relative acceleration and deceleration between the two-' sets of pistons that are attached to the two separate piston carriers is thus possible. I

The characteristics of a mechanism for transferring 20 power from the-rotating piston carriers to a motor output drive shaft is important. Cycling for control of the relative motions of the two pistoricarriers is also an important function. U.S. Pat. N02 1,892,474 Satrum 1932) discloses an awkward and complex mechanism that separates the power transfer and cyclingfu'nctions. US. Pat. No. 1,603,630 Morris (1926) discloses a common power transfer and timing mechanism but one that imparts an undesired sinusoidal acceleration to the pistons. A Therefore, it is a principal object of the presentinve'ntion to provide a common power transfer and -cycling mechanism for ajrotary engine that permits-the development of an increased amount of power from the combustion of a' fuel mixture. j 51 Another problem of this general type of rotary engine is that aspace necessarily'exists between the pistonacarriers and the piston cylinder housing as a result of the piston carriers having to enter the piston chamber for attachment to thepistons for 360 rotation. 'Accordingly', it is another object of the present'invention to provide an improvedsealingmechanism for tl'ie spaces between the pist'on carriers and the entry piston to the I cylindercasing.

5 These and additional objects are accomplished by the 'various asp'ectsof the present. invention, "one' of'which is substantially a straight-line function excep't during transitions between acceleration and deceleration. The relative acceleration between two adjacent pistons that is permitted during the firing of a gasmixture that has been compressed between these two pistons'thereby "more closely matches the forces created by the expanding" gases. Existing rotary engines that-ha'vecy'cling systems that do not permit sych agradu-ally increasing amount of acceleration between adjacent pistons in the firing portion of the cycle work against-the'forces developed by the expanding fuel medium and thus do not develop the ifullpower for which t'l'ie'ya're capable. The,

straight line acceleration functionhas the further; advantage of reducing dynamic forces on theengi'ne components and thus significantly reduces failure:

.2 In one particular form "of the invention, these improved motion characteristics of a rotary engine are accomplished by 'aplanetary gear system that both tra'nsfers power from the piston carricrs-to'a drive shaft-a nd I also provides motor timing by controlling the motion-of the piston carriers. A ring gear fix'ed'with respect to the engine frame is engaged by a plurality of smaller pinion gears which are rotatably attached to the drive shaft.

10 The pinion gears have :carn' followers that ajre offset from.the centers of rotation :of thepinion 'gears f'Qne half of the pinion gears have {their earn followers rotating 180? displaced in phase with respect to the frame from the cam followers on the other half of the pinion l5 gears. Cam surfaces attached to one of thecarriers; co-

Operatewith the cam followersof one-phase whilecam surfaces attached to the other of the two pistoncarriers cooperate with the cam followers of the second=half of the number of pinion gears. These cam surfaces 'are shaped to simultaneously permit 'fre'e movement of their associated cam followers a distance along a radial line from the center of rotation of the piston carr'ier'and an angular displacement of the piston carrier cam surfaces with respect to their respective cam followers.

Such cam surfaces convert the sinusoidal acceleration characteristic of the pinion gear cam follo wer irnotion intosnbstantiallya straight line acceleration function except when the cam followers are reversing direction with respect to thecam surfaces; The 180 phase displacement of the two sets of pinion gear cam followers causes one piston carrierto be. decelerating whileut he other one is accelerating. i

The piston carriers are preferably in the form of discs adjacent one another that enter the piston cylinder through an annular groove that. extends completely around the inside surface of the cylinder assembly. To adequately seal the cylinderfrom its surrounding envi- 4O ronrnent, an improved seal is provided without relying np on resilient loading or restraints fail in time. Continuous circular sealsimade of somewhat flexible or segmented material are placed in slots formed tiiy opposing annular grooves in the engine casing andadjacennpiston carrier surfaceQThe seaIing rings are positioned in their slots to bridge the gap between the rotating piston carrier and the adjacent engine casing surface..=Seating of the sealing rings to effect-aseaLiSy-Rrovided"by the'difference. in pressurefrom within and without the piston chamber. lt-s flexibility .or segmentation permits-a certain portion of the circular seal-.td be pr ess ed radially outward toward the cylinder when the pressure therein islower than'pressure' external of the 5 cylinder'while another adjacent portion of the seal may be lir ged radially' away from the piston cylinderportions when the pressure therein is higher than the pressure outside. of "the cylinder. Two or more such seals are l leigaps between the pisto n carriers and rig, and a .th'ird set of seals is mployed -.in a similararr angernent tobridge a gap between the I two pistoncarriersasthey enter theipiston cylinder.

Additional aspects of the present inventionas well as ,other objects and advantages thereof aregs'et forth in a rotary engine which shouldbe-taken in, conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 24C3'105I5en the following description ,of-ta preferred embodiment of BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRA WINGS I FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of a rotary engine driving system according to the pres- .ent invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of two components of the engine portion shown in FIG. 1 that have been separated; v

FIG. 3 is a'sectioned side view of a rotary engine embodying the various aspects of the present invention;

"FIG. 4 is a section of the piston cylinder of FIG. 3 taken through one port thereof;

FIG. 5 is a section of the piston cylinder of FIG; 3 taken at a location of-a spark plug;

FIG. 6 is a view of the cylinder and piston arrangement of the engine of FIG. 3 taken across section 6-6 thereof; I r i FIG. 7 is across-sectional view of a piston of the rotary engine of FIG. 3 taken across section 77 thereof;

FIG. 8 isan enlarged view of a sealing ring of the rotary engine of FIGS. 1-7 taken across section 88 of FIG. 6; s

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of the intake and exhaust ports of the cylinder side wall as shown in FIG. 6 but with the pistons removed;

FIG. 10 is a view of the rotary engine taken across section l010 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 11 is a view of the rotary engine taken across section ll-ll of FIG. 3;

FIGS. 12, Band 14 schematically illustrate the sequence of events in the operation of the rotary engine shown at different instances of time; and

FIG. 15 is an enlarged view of a portion of the FIG.

. 10 view of the rotary engine being described.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED I EMBODIMENTS Referring initially primarily to FIGS. 1-3, the primary operating components of a rotary engine embodying the various aspects of the present invention may be described. A cast engine frame 11 has rigidly attached thereto a large ring gear 13 with its teeth on its inside circumference. A fly wheel 15 is pinned to a drive shaft 17 in a manner that they rotate together. Six pinion gears 19, 21, 23, 25, 27 and 29 are mounted on the fly wheel 15 in a manner to rotate about their centers. Each ofthe pinion gears has a cam follower attached thereto at a distance from the center of rotation of the associated pinion gear. The cam followers 20, 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 are each in the form of rollers that are mounted on the pinion gears in a manner to rotate with respect thereto. Motion is transferred to the pinion cam surfaces from the piston movement which causes rotation of the pinion gears and which in turn causes rotation of the fly wheel 15 and the drive shaft 17 to develop the motor output power. I

Two spiders 33 and 35 carry a total of six cam surfaces, one for each of the cam followers on the pinion gears. The spider 33 has cam surfaces 36, 37 and 39 in which the cam followers 26, 22, and 30 ride, respectively. The spider 35 includes closed cam surfaces 41, 43, and 45 in which the cam followers 24, 28 and ride, respectively. The spiders 33 and 35 are shaped so that all of their cam surfaces fall in the same plane normal to their commonaxis of rotation 51.

The spider 33 is rigidly connected by way of a cylindrical sleeve 47 to a first piston carrier 49 for rotation therewith about the axis of rotation 51. The axis of rotation 51 is also that of a drive shaft 17. Similarly. the spider is rigidly connected by another-cylindrical sleeve 53 to a second piston carrier 55. The piston carrier 49 has four pistons 57, 59, 61 and 63 rigidly attach'ed to its outside circumference. A piston carrier 55 has four pistons 65, 67, 69 and 71 attached thereto. A continuous circular piston chamber 73 is indicated schematically in dotted outline in FIG. 1 and includes spark plugs 75 and 77 indicated in dotted outline. The position of exhaustports 79 and 81, and the position of intake ports 83 and 85 are also indicated in dotted outline in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 3, the section there shown illustrates pistons 59 and 71 within the continuous circular piston chamber 73. The piston 71 is attached to a finger 8.6 that is part of the piston carrier 55.and which extends into the piston chamber 73. Similarly the piston 59 is attached to a finger 87 that is part of the piston carrier 49. FIG. 7 indicates a sideview of the piston 59 which is typical ofthe structure of the eight pistons and their attachment to their respective piston carriers. Circular sealing rings 89 and 91 seal the piston 59 to the inside walls of the piston chamber 73.

Referring again primarily to FIG. 3, it maybe observed that the drive shaft 17 is journaled into the frame 11 of the engine by appropriate bearings at its entry and exit to the engine. The cylinder 47, and thus the spider 33 and piston carrier 49, are permitted to rotate with respect to the drive shaft by an appropriate bearing arrangement. The drive shaft serves as a convenientv'support. Similarly, the cylinder 53 and thus the spider 35 and the piston carrier 55, are permitted to ro- Appropriate bearings are provided between the cylindrical members 47 and 53 to permit this relative rotational motion while still providing support of the cylinder.53 and its attached elements.

Referring primarily to FIG. 6, the continuous circular shape of the cylinder 73 is shown to have an inner surface 93 and an outer surface 95 at different fixed radii from the center of rotation 51. Intake ports 83 and as well as exhaust ports 79 and 81 are provided in the side wall of the cylinder as illustrated in FIGS. 4, 6 and 9. Rather than having a single opening into the cylinder for each port, a plurality of elongated openings are provided with their long dimension oriented in a direction of piston movement around the cylinder and a narrow dimension in a direction orthogonal thereto. Referring to the exhaust ports 79 in detail, for instance, it is seen thatthe cylinder walls form bridges 97, 99, and 101 across the port in forming four openings through which spent gases may be exhausted from the cylinder 73 and out of a single opening 103. The bridges 97, 99 and 101 provide support for the piston sealing rings as the piston travels over the port. Such support keeps the flexi? ble piston rings from falling into the port opening and then striking an edge as the ring is swept beyond the port opening. Wear on the piston rings is thus reduced while maintaining the necessary port opening area into the cylinder. It will be noted in the specific example being described that the intake ports provide more area into the cylinder 73 than do the exhaust ports.

FIG. 5 shows a section through the cylinder including the spark plug 77 located on the side of the cylinder near its small radius inside surface. In the structure shown in FIGS. l-Il, only two spark plugs 75.and 77 are provided l80f displaced around the cylinder. As described hereinafter with respect to FIGS. 12-14, two more spark plugs may optionally be ,provided and displaced around the cylinder a small distance from the spark plugs 75 and 77 for cooperative firing therewith.

It may be noticed especially from FIG. 3 that an opening must be provided into the piston cylinder 73 for entry of the piston carriers 49 and 55. This opening extends the full circle of the piston cylinder at its small radius surface. The problem then becomes one of sealing spaces 105 and 107 between the casing of the engine and the piston carriers 55 and 49, respectively. Additionally, a space 109 exists between the piston carriers 49 and 55. These spaces are necessarily maintained to reduce wear since there is relative motion between the piston carriers 49 and 55 and also a higher velocity relative motion between these piston carriers and the engine frame or casing. These three spaces must be sealed in order to permit control of pressure within the piston cylinder 73.

A continuous circular sealing ring 111 is provided to seal the space 105. Such a sealing ring is preferably made of a somewhat flexible material and may be segmented and pinned if the flexibility is not sufficient for proper operation. A solid bronze material is adequate. Similar sealing rings 113 and 115 are provided to seal the spaces 107 and 109.

Cooperating annular grooves are provided in the engine casing and in the surface of the piston carrier 55 to provide a slot for receiving the sealing ring 111. The resulting slot allows the sealing ring 111 to span the space 105. The slot for the sealing ring 111 has an inner surface a certain radius from the axis of rotation 51 and an outer surface a larger radial distance from the axis of rotation 51. The pressure differential between the outside atmosphere and the piston chamber 73 forces the sealing ring 111 either against the inside radial surface of its receiving slot or the outside radial surface, depending upon whether the pressure is higher or lower in the piston chamber 73 than the outside atmosphere. Since vthe pressure within the piston cylinder varies as afunction of position around the cylinder 73, the sealing ring 111 may be urged against its inner radial surface for a portion of its circumference while being urged against the outer radial surface of its receiving slot for other portions of its circular length. Furthermore, the pressure at any one location within the piston cylinder 73 will vary between above and below that of the surrounding atmosphere, thereby urging as a function of time a segment of the sealing ring 111 alternately toward the inner radial surface of its receiving slot and its outer radial surface of its receiving slot and its outer radial surface. This pressure differential accomplishes the required seal without the use of any mechanical elements such as springs for urging the sealing ring 111 against either the inner or outer radial surface of its receiving slot. The sealing ring floats in its receiving slot absent the pressure differential.

respective receiving slots. The sealing ring remains unpinned.

A portion of such a sealing ring is illustrated in enlarged view in FIG. 8. Annular grooves 117 and 119 are provided intermediate of the sealing rings edges in the outer and inner sealing surfaces, respectively. The remaining sealing surfaces on either side of the grooves 117 and 119 are thereby free to contact the parts of their receiving slots on either side of the spaces to be sealed, thus assuring good contact and an effective seal.

Thrust rings 112, 114 and 116 are also provided across the spaces 105, 109 and 107, respectively, in order to maintain clearness between the piston carriers and the engine casing. The thrust rings also serve a sealing function.

As can be 'seen from FIGS. 10 and 11, the pinion gears 19, 23 and 27 have their respectively carried cam followers 20, '24 and 28 contacting their respective cam surfaces of the single spider 35. The cam followers 20, 24 and 28 rotate at one relative phase while the cam followers 22, 26" and 30 on the remaining pinion gears 21, 25 and 29 are rotating out of phase therewith. If additional pistons are added, some pinion gear sets would be phased 90 with respect to those specifically described herein for cycling these additional pistons. The cam followers 22, 26 and 30 cooperate with the respective cam surfaces of the spider 33. The spider cam surfaces so engage their respective cam followers that when the spider 33, for example, is traveling in one direction with respect to its cam followers, the spider 35 is traveling in an opposite direction with respect to its cam followers. The spiders, and thus the pistons connected thereto, are permitted by the mechanical connection illustrated-to oscillate back and forth with respect to one another as the pistons all travel in the same direction around the piston chamber 73. Although three cam surfaces and three associated cam followers and pinion gears are provided with each of the spiders 33 and 35, it will'be understood that the engine being described would operate with only one cam surface and one associated cam follower and pinion gear for each of the spiders'33 and 35. However, the use of three identical such cam systems for each of the spiders 33 and 35 reduces the, forces carried by an individual cam arrangement. h

The velocity and acceleration functions of the cam followers as the pinions are rotated are sinusoidal in nature for a continuous velocity of the fly wheel 15 to which the pinion gears are rotatably attached. This velocity and acceleration characteristic is undersirable for piston timing because of excessive dynamic forces that result in the; engine which limit the amount of power that may be developed therein. Sinusoidal relative motion of the pistons is especially undesirable during the firing portion of the cycle because the forces developed by the expanding gases do not match this permitting motion. Thus, the individual cam surfaces of the spiders 33 and'35 are designed to convert this sinusoidal motion of the cam followers to substantially linear acceleration of the spiders with respect to. the engine frame, thereby also to result in substantially linear' acceleration between cooperating sets of pistons as they move back and forth with respect to each other.

Each of the cam surfaces of the spiders 33 and 35 are identical in shape, this shape being illustrated in detail with respect to FIG. 15. Assume for example that the cam slot 36 is operating with'it's cam follower 26. One

extreme position of the cam follower 26 with respect to the cam slot 36 is shown at 26 and an opposite extreme position ofthecam follower 26 is illustrated at 26". Radial lines drawn from the center of rotation 51 of the spider and through the centers of the extreme cam follower positions 26 and 26" are separatedby a distance x. The cam, 36 is madeto have this dimension equal to one-half of the desired piston stroke of theengine. The piston stroke is equal to the difference of the distance between adjacent pistons when they are closest together and their distance when they are furthest apart. Thepistons continue to oscillate with respect to one another between these maximum and minimum distance positions as they travel in a single direction around the piston chamber.

r The cam slot 36 of FIG. is additionally designed .so that the center of the cam follower 26 moves be -=tween its two extreme positions 26 and 26" a distance r along a radius from the'rotation center 51. The distance r is chosen to be twice the distance that the rotation center of the cam follower 26 is displaced from the centerof rotation of its pinion gear on the fly wheel 15. The curved shape of the cam surface is then chosen for minimum binding shear forces between the cam 36 and the cam follower 26 as the engine operates.

The schematic drawings of FIGS. 12, 13 and 14 show the operation of the engine in three different instantaneous positions. Referring to FIG. 12, a compressed gas and air mixture between the pistons 67 and 59 is ignited by aspark from thespark plug 75. This tends to drive the pistons 59 and 67 apart. Because of the inertia of the wheel and other components tending to drive the pistons in a counterclockwise direction at all times, and because of a resistance of the driving cam 39 in a position shown in FIG. 12 from permitting the piston 59 from traveling in a clockwise direction, the piston accelerated as a' result of the explosion. The piston 67 ispermitted to move at a much higher velocity than gthe piston 59 since its cam surface 45 is traveling in the same diifection with respect to the engine frame as the cam follower 20, The cam 59 is moving inan opposite direction with respect to the cam follower 30 and thus notipermitted to move very ,far with respect to the maehine'iframe during one half a revolution of the pinion gears.

, In FIG. 13, themotor component positions'a slightly later insta'nt of timeis shown. The piston 59 has moved a very small distance andthe piston 67 has been per- FIG. 14 shows the state of the elements of the engine after'the pinion gears have bcenrotated 180 and the cam followers are positioned at the opposite ends of their respective cam slots from that shown in FIG. 12. As the volume between the pistons 59 and 67 has expanded from the explosion of the gas/air mixture between the positions shownin FIGS. 12 and 14, the volume between the pistons 59 and 65 has been compressed. The volume between the pistons 59 and 65 contains agas/air mixture that waspreviously drawn in through the intake port85. Therefore, the engine position shown in FIG. 4 is set for receiving another spark from the spark plug 75. It is the piston 59 which will now. accelerate at a higher velocity than the piston 65 because the cam surface 39 associated with the piston 59 is now moving in the same direction with respect to the engine frame as its associated cam follower 30, an opposite condition from that which occurred as the engine moved from its position shown in FIG. 12 to its position shown in FIG. 14. The pistons travel approximately half the distance around the cylinder 73 as the pinion gears revolve a full revolution.

A second spark plug 121 can be added to the rotary engine displaced a distance from and associated with the spark plug 75. Similarly, a spark plug 123 can be added in association with the spark plug 77, as shown in FIGS. 12-14. In such a case, the second spark plug 121 is fired, referring to FIGS. 12 and 13, just after the piston 67 passes the spark plug 121. The spark plug 74 has previously been fired at an earlier time when the piston is in the position shown in FIG. 12. This multiple firing has the advantage of keeping up the pressure as the piston 67 acceleration gradually increases in a substantially linear manner. Since additional gases are burned by the second spark plug firing, the gases exhausted through the exhaust port 79 will thus be cleaner. Greater efficiency and a reduced emission of pollutants from the engine in operation is the result. Referringto FIG. 1, an ignition timing device 131 is coupled to the drive shaft 17 in a manner to produce ignition pulses for each of the spark plugs at appropriate times, such as pulses in the lines 133 and 135 which can be coupled to the spark plugs and 121, respectively. The ignition device 131 can be, for instance, in accordance with the systems described in US. Pat. Nos. 2,787,649 and 2,918,913. The ignition timing is preferably controlled by a non-mechanical sensor of engine position. For example, a light and photocell arrangement can be employed to emit a pulse at predetermined positions of the engine. Also, reed switches can be placed on the engine frame for sensing magnetic fields from permanent or electromagnets attached to the flywheel.

Another advantage of this structureis that a wide variety of fuels may be used, such as'high-octane gasoline, low-octane gasoline, jet fuel, butane, kerosene and diesel oil. 5 v i Although the various aspects of the present invention have been described with respect to a specific preferred embodiment of a rotary engine, it will be understood that the invention is protected within the full scope of the appended claims.

I claim: I

l. A rotary internal combustion engine, comprising:

a continuous cylinder having at least two pistons sealed to the walls thereof and capable of traveling completely around said cylinder,

' s at least one each of an intake port, an exhaust port relative acceleration between said at least two pistons to be linearly increasing at least for a period following ignition, whereby an increased potential power of expanding gases after ignition is communicated with the drive shaft.

2. A rotary engine according to claim 1 wherein said ignition means includes two spark plugs linearly displaced along said cylinder in a manner that both may be fired during a single power stroke of acceleration between said pistons, said two spark plugs being time sequentially fired during the power stroke.

3. The rotary engine of claim 1 wherein each of said intake and exhaust ports includes a plurality of radially extending openings that are elongated in a direction of the piston chamber in which the pistons travel adjacent openings being separated by a bridge formed as part of the cylinder wall, whereby piston sealing means will not depress into said ports to thereby reduce the piston sealing means wear.

4. In a rotary internal combustion engine having a continuous circular cylinder formed in an engine frame, a plurality of pistons sealed to said cylinder for movement entirely around said cylinder, an ignition means communicating with said cylinder, combustible medium intake and exhaust ports communicating with said cylinder, at least two piston carriers with alternate pistons around the cylinder connected to a common one of said two piston carriers, an improved power transfer and cycling mechanism comprising:

a fly wheel attached to a drive shaft for rotation with respect to said engine frame and thereby to form the power output of said engine,

a ring gear fixed to said frame adjacent said fly wheel,

at least two pinion gears rotatably attached to said fly wheel in a manner to continuously engage said fixed ring gear, thereby to rotate said fly wheel in response to rotation of said pinion gears,

a cam follower offset from the center of rotation of each of said at least two gears and attached hereto, and

at least one cam surface attached to each of said two piston carriers and contacting one of said cam followers exclusively for transferring power from said pistons to said pinion gears, said cam surface having a dimension extending between two angular radial lines extending from the center of rotation of its associated piston carrier, said cam surfaces additionally extending between said two angular radial lines in a non-linear path that curves outward away from said center of rotation in a manner to cause the relative acceleration between pistons on said at least two carriers to be substantially linearly increasing.

5. The rotary engine according to claim 4 wherein said cam followers are positioned on their respective pinion gears in a manner to rotate substantially 180 out of phase from each other.

6. The rotary engine of claim 4 wherein said frame includes a continuous circular slot providing an opening into the interior of said piston cylinder for said piston carriers to pass therethrough, said frame and said piston carriers including annular grooves cooperating to provide a space for a sealing ring, said sealing ring being positioned therein and spanning between said piston carrier and said frame without any resilient means applied thereto, said sealing ring being flexible enough or segmented so as to be urged toward the radially inside or radially outside portion of said slot depending upon whether a region thereabout within said cylinder is under less or more pressure than the surrounding atmosphere.

7. A rotary engine according to claim 6 wherein said piston carriers are freely supported on said drive shaft, said drive shaft being journaled into said frame and said piston carriers being rotatable with respect to both said frame and said drive shaft as well as being rotatable with respect to one another.

8. The rotary engine according to claim 5 wherein said ring gear and said at least two pinion gears lie in a common plane with the cam follower associated with each of said pinion gears attached directly thereto.

9. The rotary engine according to claim 8 wherein said drive shaft is positioned with its center coincident with an axis of said cylinder a first cylindrical sleeve rotatably supported along a portion of said drive shaft, a second cylindrical sleeve rotatably supported on said first sleeve, each of said at least two piston carriers attached to a respective one of said sleeves in a direction substantially perpendicular to said axis, said cam surfaces being provided on individual arms extending outward in a direction substantially perpendicular to said axis and rigidly connected to the respective cylindrical sleeves a distance removed along said axis from the connection of said piston carriers thereto.

10. A rotary internal combustion engine, comprising:

a continuous cylinder having at least two pistons sealed to an internal wall thereof and capable of traveling completely around said cylinder,

said cylinder having adjacent regions in sequence in a given direction therearound, an intake region including an intake port, a compression region, an expansion region including an ignition device and an exhaust region including an exhaust port,

a drive shaft forming a power output of said engine,

and

means communicating motion of said at least two pistons to said drive shaft for causing said pistons to expand apart when passing through the intake region, to compress together when passing through the compression region, to expand apart in the expansion region and again to move together in the exhaust region while always traveling in said given direction, said communicating means providing for a substantially linearly increasing acceleration between the pistons throughout a major portion of said power region. 

1. A rotary internal combustion engine, comprising: a continuous cylinder having at least two pistons sealed to the walls thereof and capable of traveling completely around said cylinder, at least one each of an intake port, an exhaust port and an ignition means communicating with said cylinder, a drive shaft as a power output of said engine, and means attached to said drive shaft for transferring power from said pistons thereto and for timing the relative motion of said pistons, said power transfer and timing means including means for causing the relative acceleration between said at least two pistons to be linearly increasing at least for a period following ignition, whereby an increased potential power of expanding gases after ignition is communicated with the drive shaft.
 2. A rotary engine according to claim 1 wherein said ignition means includes two spark plugs linearly displaced along said cylinder in a manner that both may be fired during a single power stroke of acceleration between said pistons, said two spark plugs being time sequentially fired during the power stroke.
 3. The rotary engine of claim 1 wherein each of said intake and exhaust ports includes a plurality of radially extending openings that are elongated in a direction of the piston chamber in which the pistons travel adjacent openings being separated by a bridge formed as part of the cylinder wall, whereby piston sealing means will not depress into said ports to thereby reduce the piston sealing means wear.
 4. In a rotary internal combustion engine having a continuous circular cylinder formed in an engine frame, a plurality of pistons sealed to said cylinder for movement entirely around said cylinder, an ignition means communicating with said cylinder, combustible medium intake and exhaust ports communicating with said cylinder, at least two piston carriers with alternate pistons around the cylinder connected to a common one of said two piston carriers, an improved power transfer and cycling mechanism comprising: a fly wheel attached to a drive shaft for rotation with respect to said engine frame and thereby to form the power output of said engine, a ring gear fixed to said frame adjacent said fly wheel, at least two pinion gears rotatably attached to said fly wheel in a manner to continuously engage said fixed ring gear, thereby to rotate said fly wheel in response to rotation of said pinion gears, a cam follower offset from the center of rotation of each of said at least two gears and attached hereto, and at least one cam surface attached to each of said two piston carriers and contacting one of said cam followers exclusively for transferring power from said pistons to said pinion gears, said cam surface having a dimension extending between two angular radial lines extending from the center of rotation of its associated piston carrier, said cam surfaces additionally extending between said two angular radial lines in a non-linear path that curves outward away from said center of rotation in a manner to cause the relative acceleration between pistons on said at least two carriers to be substantially linearly increasing.
 5. The rotary engine according to claim 4 wherein said cam followers are positioned on their respective pinion gears in a manner to rotate substantially 180* out of phase from each other.
 6. The rotary engine of claim 4 wherein said frame includes a continuous circular slot providing an opening into the interior of said piston cylinder for said piston carriers to pass therethrough, said frame and said piston carriers including annular grooves cooperating to provide a space for a sealing ring, said sealing ring being positioned therein and spanning between said piston carrier and said frame without any resilient means applied thereto, said sealing ring being flexible enough or segmented so as to be urged toward the radially inside or radially outside portion of said slot depending upon whether a region thereabout within said cylinder is under less or more pressure than the surrounding atmosphere.
 7. A rotary engine according to claim 6 wherein said piston carriers are freely supported on said drive shaft, said drive shaft being journaled into said frame and said piston carriers being rotatable with respect to both said frame and said drive shaft as well as being rotatable with respect to one another.
 8. The rotary engine according to claim 5 wherein said ring gear and said at least two pinion gears lie in a common plane with the cam follower associated with each of said pinion gears attached directly thereto.
 9. The rotary engine according to claim 8 wherein said drive shaft is positioned with its center coincident with an axis of said cylinder a first cylindrical sleeve rotatably supported along a portion of said drive shaft, a second cylindrical sleeve rotatably supported on said first sleeve, each of said at least two piston carriers attached to a respective one of said sleeves in a direction substantially perpendicular to said axis, said cam surfaces being provided on individual arms extending outward in a direction substantially perpendicular to said axis and rigidly connected to the respective cylindrical sleeves a distance removed along said axis from the connection of said piston carriers thereto.
 10. A rotary internal combustion engine, comprising: a continuous cylinder having at least two pistons sealed to an internal wall thereof and capable of traveling completely around said cylinder, said cylinder having adjacent regions in sequence in a given direction therearound, an intake region including an intake port, a compression region, an expansion region including an ignition device and an exhaust region including an exhaust port, a drive shaft forming a power output of said engine, and means communicating motion of said at least two pistons to said drive shaft for causing said pistons to expand apart when passing through the intake region, to compress together when passing through the compression region, to expand apart in the expansion region and again to move together in the exhaust region while always traveling in said given direction, said communicating means providing for a substantially linearly increasing acceleration between the pistons throughout a major portion of said power region. 